General Chat / MLB

I didn't realize by "club Harden's leg" you actually meant "grease the infielder's gloves". It's tough to keep up with all of these new baseball metaphors. Maybe Vlade the Impaler will settle down now that's he got his grand slam for the series.

^^ But you'd also need to shift your body to match where you think it's coming. And I'm talking about the point between setting and right before the ball release. If you want to pick up a pitch well, it all starts at where the guy releases the ball. You can track the spin of the ball and its movement if you concentrate there.

Anyway, yeah it's doable, but it's still a risk, just that glance might throw off your timing if the pitcher works fast.

Okay, that was just about the stupidest way to lose a game. And you know it, Ed.


I dunno what's worse, to lose because you were thoroughly dominated or to just give a game (or two) away like that.

Not the way I expected to win the series, but it's a division series - these things happen. And yes, that was just about the stupidest way to lose a game I can think of. Especially when the game decides first place in the west (for a day anyway). Wow, when I said your bullpen was melting down before I was mostly joking. If I said it now I wouldn't be. That is about the last thing I'd want to see from my closer. He looked like he just didn't care.

For your viewing pleasure:

I was gonna invite you to SFMM too. In fact, I'm gonna PM you guys about this.

<3 jeff francour <3
10 hr's in 30 games. plus hes fast as hell and makes rediculous plays in the outfield.

Picked him up on a fantasy baseball team too.

A's FINALLY cooled down. Yay! Especially after how we bombed against Toronto (again... wtf? ), that was a nice bonus.

"Scheduling Gift from the Gods" (noun)
def: Having lost four in a row after a torrid three months, your team trudges onto its next opponent... only to find they've lost 18 in a row. Make that 19... and that -4 suddenly becomes a +1


Damn A's.

Oh come on Cork, you guys get to play them as much as we do. It's Chicago and Cleveland you should be griping about. Especially if Cleveland takes the wild card from you. And we already handed them three of those 18 straight losses a couple weeks ago. And two of those four straight losses were on debatable calls too. Not really a slump so much as a return to the world of mortal man. What is concerning is the continued hitting slump of Bobby Crosby. He's due for a rebound sometime soon, I hope. Oh and the stadium plans in Oakland are enough good news to outlast any prolonged losing streak well into next season. Keep the A's in Oakland where they belong.

Oh yeah, and I've got to thank the Bo Sox for Jay Payton. He F'in rocks!

1. Thank you Arroyo and that fat dude in center field.
2. Saw a kid at Subway with a "Choke - The official drink of the New York Yankees" shirt tonight... laughed.
3. A's won't get in the playoff's, that's my prediction now...

that is all.

Angels are gonna win the series, you can bet on that (between the A's and Angels starting Tuesday).

3. A's won't get in the playoff's, that's my prediction now...

Uh oh, sounds like someone's getting confident again. Remember what happened the last time you posted in this topic? Oh yeah, the Angels lost that series AND first place.

Royals winning 2-1 at the moment....

2. Saw a kid at Subway with a "Choke - The official drink of the New York Yankees" shirt tonight... laughed.

I've seen that shirt around Boston.

Granted, it's no "Jeter Swings Both Ways" or "A-Rod's an A-Hole" but still a good one.

http://mlb.mlb.com/N...xt=.jsp&c_id=kc

Royals end 19-game skid in Oakland
Kansas City gets first win of August with top-notch pitching

OAKLAND -- Crank up the music. Pour the champagne. Pass out the victory cigars. OK, maybe just crank up the music.

It's over.

The Royals ended their dreary stretch of 19 losses by defeating the Oakland Athletics, 2-1, Saturday night in front of 27,648 fans at McAfee Coliseum.

Gone was the specter of having to avoid on Sunday tying the American League record of 21 straight losses endured by the 1988 Baltimore Orioles.

No, the Royals were free at last.

The Royals took a 2-1 lead over left-hander Barry Zito in the fourth inning. Terrence Long led off, lining a single into center field. Mike Sweeney followed with a single to left and Emil Brown dropped a double just fair behind first base to score Long.

Matt Stairs' bid for a hit was squelched by first baseman Dan Johnson's sharp play as Sweeney crossed the plate. That was it, though, as Angel Berroa popped up and Mark Teahen bounced out.

The A's got a run against right-hander Mike Wood in the third as Mark Ellis singled, then circled the bases on a wild pitch and two groundouts.

Wood survived two errors -- one by shortstop Berroa in the fourth and another by third baseman Teahen in the fifth -- with the innings ending on stellar plays by Long in left and Teahen at third, respectively. Then Wood was relieved by left-hander Andrew Sisco.

Trouble developed. An Eric Chavez double and two subsequent walks loaded the bases with one out. But right-hander Ambiorix Burgos bailed out Sisco, fanning Nick Swisher and getting Ellis to ground out to Berroa.

Bobby Kielty lashed a one-out double in the A's eighth. After Swisher hit a hard liner that center fielder Chip Ambres reached to catch rather shakily, Royals manager Buddy Bell brought in closer Mike MacDougal and he struck out Ellis.

Facing the top of the A's order in the ninth, MacDougal worked a 1-2-3 inning. The Royals ran onto the field and shook hands.

Finally, it was over.





Against Oakland, out of all teams. I did NOT see that coming.

Against Oakland, out of all teams.  I did NOT see that coming.

I did. I called it on Friday. I knew the streak was going to end against us because the A's have not been playing that well lately. The pitching continues it's excellence but the offense has disappeared. Swisher was gone for a few days and that's one reason why. He's second on the team in HR and third in RBIs. Crosby's slump continues and that's another reason. He was the best hitter on the team in June. Kotsay has been having back trouble for about a month now and not hitting very well during that period and Kielty has entered a mini-slump of his own and he's one of the team leaders in SLG%. That's a lot of guys struggling all at once. Payton has been awesome. Chavez has been his usual up-and-down self. Ellis has been a hitting machine lately and Johnson continues his solid hitting, but without any powerhouses in the lineup, this offense doesn't work when half the guys aren't hitting. That being said, guys like Kendall and Kotsay are going to get hot before the season is over. Their career numbers show that. Who knows with Crosby. I think he needs to tweak his hitting approach because he's been struggling for awhile. But the big story is the pitching staff which continues to pace the rest of the league. Guys are going to get hot again, I'm sure of that. Nobody could keep up that pace forever. Even so, the A's don't have to continue that pace to win the division. They made up 15 games in three weeks. This division won't be decided until the end of the season. Both the A's and Angels are better all around teams than New York or Cleveland or Minnesota so I think the Wild Card will be coming from the West.

Anyway, it's really only one loss. The A's will come back and win the series tomorrow, no big deal. Not getting any runs though is a big deal. That's got to stop.

Well... I'm glad you were wrong on that last part. I'm sure Jelly and Steve are happy the Sox beat the Angels today... I knew we should have saved some of that offense from Thursday.

It's a split. A split is a split.

Schill comes back to the rotation Thursday. Make or break? Possibly.

Papelbon = god.

Papelbon = god.

hes not bad, but thats a bit of a stretch

Watch out... here come the Twins.

Especially if they can work a deal for Soriano after blocking the waiver request.